I'm in my first year at McMaster and I'm taking social sciences. Well I have all my classes planned out so that I could transfer to second year commerce but I've run into a problem. On my first math (1k03) midterm I got 10% and its worth 20% of the grade and on my second math midterm I got 20% worth 20% of the grade. (not cause of goofing off I just have a tough time with algebra) anyways the remainder of the courses marks are made up of 20% for the third test and 40% for the final exam.

Now I don't know if I should continue in this class and get a tutor and try to do my best, (I have a feeling I'll probably just fail because I've already missed out on so many marks) and if so does anyone know where I could get a math tutor?

Also should I drop the course before nov 7? what is the difference between a dropped course and a failed course? In order for me to transfer to second year commerce I need to take another math, something like 1m03 and I cannot take it without the 1k03 prerequisite. How will failing or dropping this course affect this?

Thanks

http://www.degroote.mcmaster .ca/ug...I I09_000.pdf

According to this, you can't fail a course if you want to transfer to business. So, if you don't think you'll pass, you might as well drop it now, and take it in summer school. If you do this however, you won't be able to transfer this year because you wouldn't have the prerequisites.

If you drop it before the deadline, it will show up as "canceled" on your transcript (which is fine). If you drop it after the deadline, it will show up as "fail" (not fine as you can't fail a course if you want to transfer to business).

Good luck!

I would drop the course, follow it for the rest of the year and take it in the summer.

I would suggest seeing if summer school courses are accepted in your transfer application. As well, I'd recommend speaking to your professor right away and explaining your situation. If you're genuinely having difficulty with the material, this may not change in summer school and if summer school courses are not counted toward your application then you can still get a 51% in the course but you may need a tutor to help out.
Another possibility you may also wish to keep in mind is considering an Economics major with a Business minor. I know your heart is set on commerce and I really hope you make it but if you'd like to consider an alternative, one is there should you wish.

Go to the math help center in HH. That helped me alot in first year! they are open M-F from like 3pm-8:30pm?? ....the math help center saved me in first year!!

I wouldn't want to deal with a 1 on my transcript, especially if you ever plan on doing a MBA

I agree with manu. You should definitely take advantage of the Math Help Centre. It's very useful and full of smart TAs that are willing to help you with concepts you're struggling with.

...hopefully they don't go on strike though.

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Originally Posted by jordko

On my first math (1k03) midterm I got 10%...s

... do you mean that you got 10% on the test, or you only got 10% of the 20% the test was worth (a.k.a you got 50% on the test)?

Originally Posted by Ownaginatios

... do you mean that you got 10% on the test, or you only got 10% of the 20% the test was worth (a.k.a you got 50% on the test)?

I got 1 out of 10 so 10%

If you're having such severe problems with the course, you may want to get immediate help as others have mentioned.

There are two primary resources for first year math students:

1) The Math Help Centre (http://www.math.mcmaster.ca/undergra...pin_center.php)
2) The Math & Stats Tutor List (http://www.math.mcmaster.ca/courses/tutors.php)


Given that you have obtained 3 out of 40% so far, you need 47 out of the remaining 60% just to pass the course...that means you need to average 78% between the last test and final exam. If you get 100% on both, you'll get a mark of 63% which is a 5.

If you don't feel this is a reasonable expectation, then I highly recommend dropping the course and either picking it up next term, or in the summer, with extra help as I've outlined above.

(Also, feel free to contact me if you need any specific math help)

Good luck!

First step. Drop the course.

You're going to need a CA over 9.5 to get into Commerce. Internal transfers into Commerce are prioritized lower than transfers of students from other schools.

Second step. Reconsider what you want.

Why do you want to go to Commerce? I know lots of people who have left with a Commerce degree and aren't finding jobs, or are coming back for a second degree. I've had three friends take 5th/6th years to get Poli Sci/Economics/Psych degrees and have only then found jobs they liked.

Third step. Work your ass off.

I've had 2 friends switch into Commerce and they had to essentially enter hermitage for their semesters in order to ensure they had 10s,11s and 12s. Since Mac wants to shrink the size of the Commerce program every year, they don't take many transfers. It's nearly as hard to enter as Health Sci or Art Sci.

This means lie, cheat, steal, and most of all, get as much help as humanly possible. A spot is never guaranteed as they are never sure how many Commerce students will make the grade. It may turn out to be a situation where there are too many students going into Commerce II and a Social Science student with a 12 average won't be considered.

Originally Posted by deadpool

First step. Drop the course.

[...]

Second step. Reconsider what you want.

[...]

Third step. Work your ass off.

[...]

For a lot of commerce-y fields you can either 1) do a post-grad diploma of some sort (PR, HR, Marketing), or get into the work with considerable related experience (marketing for example).

Drop the course, but decide if Commerce is really what you want...because it's going to be pretty damn hard for you to get in. The fact that you are also struggling with the math curriculum so much suggests that you may have problems in fields that require lots of math....

Haha, I feel your pain.
I'm im 1K03 as well.
The first test, I did pretty decent on,
but the one we had earlier this week, I failed. =/

The Math Help Centre does help, I'd recommed trying that.
A private tutor couldn't hurt, either.

Best of Luck!!

Oh, our T.A. is hilarious.